Should You Opt For A Multiple Listing Service Or An Exclusive Listing?

The reasons for selling a house can be varied. Quite often, it is because the house can no longer accommodate the needs of a growing family. It is also not uncommon for a family to move out of their home because of a better job offer in another city, state or country. But whatever your reasons are for selling your home, you want it done quickly and with the least amount of hassles.

As such, many homeowners have benefitted from availing of a multiple listing service or MLS. While professional real estate agents have a variety of tools in their bag of tricks, MLS is a valuable tool that offers a number of benefits that can be too good to pass up on.

Essentially, an MLS is a private database of properties for sale maintained by a network of real estate brokers who have agreed to share their listings, allowing them a wider reach in terms of looking for properties to buy or sell. These brokers can earn through the commissions from the sale of a house or through a fee collected as a buyer’s representative.

As a seller, you can benefit from MLS through expanded reach. This means that you are not solely relying on the service of a particular broker but also the service of brokers within the network to which your agent belongs. For buyers, MLS allows them to have access to listings with specific criteria including price and location.

On the other end of the spectrum, there are those who opt for an exclusive listing. Essentially, with an exclusive listing, you are narrowing down the number of real estate agencies that can showcase your property to prospective buyers. While this may seem counterintuitive, there are certain circumstances wherein sellers may benefit from an exclusive listing. For example, you might have valuable property inside of your home that you do not want to stash away every time a prospective buyer wants to have a look at your home. Or perhaps, you have a sick family member who might be disturbed whenever a buyer views your home. Some brokers can list your home exclusively for a specific period of time, and afterwards, they can list your property through MLS. Of course, the drawback is the prolonged time that your home is out on the market. Nonetheless, you have to carefully weigh the pros and cons of both types of listings and see which one best serves your particular needs and circumstances.